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Notes on our recent Viking Homelands cruise


moatenote
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Our Viking Star cruise was from Bergen, Norway to Stockholm, Sweden, July 1-15, 2017. Loved it, loved it!! We've been on 3 river boat cruises with AMA (2) and Scenic, and this was the very best trip ever. Can't say enough about the crew and how they will do whatever they can to make the passengers happy. And there were so many crew memebers. One criticism of the river cruises was that they often seemed understaffed--in the restaurants and on the docks when trying to find the right bus for the city tours (especially with Scenic on the Rhone--several times folks got on the wrong tour bus because there was no staff person to guide them).

Our cabin 5078--a good location on ship. Our cabin was portside, which was preferable for a cruise going in our direction; the ship docked on the starboard side in almost every port, leaving our side with the best views. Closet is very close to the side of the bed, requiring teamwork when both people want access at the same time. A nice feature is the closet interior light that comes on and goes off automatically when you open the sliding doors. Spacious closet and the cabin steward will provide lots of extra hangers.

We didn't need the coffee maker and the cabin steward removed it, leaving a big interior space and shelf next to the bath for storing lots of items (especially those we wanted to grab as we were leaving the room). Definitely recommend taking magnetic hooks to put on the walls for hanging jackets, etc.; and magnetic clips too for the Daily Viking, etc.

The balcony was very nice, but we rarely got to sit out on it because of the chilly weather. We took an indoor/outdoor thermometer with us and liked knowing these temps. The AC control was a challenge---you can't select a temperature for the room; you can only slide the thing from "blue" to "red" and hope for the best. Bathroom shower head was the same--with big fluctuations in temperature.

For us, the night light next to the floor near the bathroom door was too bright--we followed someone's recommendation and took some battery-operated tea lights to set on the bathroom counter (1 provided plenty of light for us).

The television: no CNN (boo!) but they do have Fox news, MSNBC, and BBC. The remote control was the worst ever! You have to stand directly in front of the tv and press the !@#$ buttons over and over; we talked to a staff person and tried replacing the battery--that did not help.

We did laundry three times and really liked the machines they have on each deck. We set it for an extra rinse after noticing a lot of suds.

Whew, that's enough for now.....I'll be happy to answer any questions about our trip. We've signed up for another Viking Star trip next May (Empires of the Mediterranean)--yep, we're hooked!!

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Thanks for sharing your experience.

Glad to know that the service is outsanding by the crew from you and all the posters who have already sailed the Viking Ocean ships.

Good idea about bringing some magnetic clips /hooks. I will do, I always like a neat stateroom and it can get messy really quickly with stuff!

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Dear moatenote,

 

Welcome home! We’ve enjoyed reading through your comments and are truly delighted to learn that you enjoyed your overall experience with us.

 

As guest feedback is paramount in our success, your notes about the stateroom features, including the thermostat, shower temperatures, and television remote, have been documented for future consideration.

 

Should you wish to share more, please do not hesitate to contact us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com.

 

We’re looking forward to cruising the Mediterranean with you next May. Until then!

 

Best regards,

Viking Cruises

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Welcome home. Glad you had a great time. Too bad about your tv remote. I'm sure it was annoying. Ours worked really well. I didn't read about the battery tea light hint. Great tip. Thanks!

 

I just used my phone--and since the night-light switch is by the bed, you can turn it on as you get out of bed and turn it off again when you return.

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